Hueso takes lead in lion-shooting controversy

S.D. assemblyman seeks ouster of Fish and Game official

Sacramento  San Diego Assemblyman Ben Hueso says there is nothing inherently wrong with hunting and remembers shooting rabbits with his father as a boy.

Nevertheless, Hueso said he is outraged that state Fish and Game Commission President Dan Richards bragged about legally killing a mountain lion in Idaho while at the same time he oversees California’s ban on hunting the big cats for sport.

“The hunting community has come out thinking this is a hunting issue. It’s not. This is really about getting somebody who will respect the laws of California,” said Hueso, a Democrat.

Hueso has crafted legislation to fire Richards 10 months before his appointed term expires. The resolution could be taken up on the Assembly floor as early as Thursday. Passage only requires a simple-majority vote in both houses controlled by Democrats.

Two veteran Assembly officials said they cannot recall lawmakers ever having taken such a dramatic step in the past 30 years.

A smiling Richards was photographed in the snow posing by a mountain lion that he killed on a guided hunt in Idaho, where it’s legal to take cougars. The photograph was recently printed in a hunting publication and distributed on the Internet.

Since then, animal rights advocates have demanded that Richards resign, saying his actions conflict with his role to protect fish and wildlife in California where voters have twice banned sport hunting of mountain lions.

Richards is unapologetic and vows to remain on the job, pointing out his guided hunt was “100 percent legal.”

“There is a zero chance I would consider resigning,” Richard said in a letter to Hueso.

Richards went on to say his activities outside the state are “none of your business” and that he “will continue to hunt and fish wherever I please, as I have always done, ethically, licensed and proudly associating with true conservationists …”

As president of the five-member Fish and Game Commission, Richards wields much power over the state’s policies and regulations that govern hunters and anglers, from licenses to seasons.

Hueso said the kill — and Richards’ subsequent actions — have made it impossible for him to work with various interests to manage and protect wildlife in a time of disappearing habitat and declining numbers.

“There’s an erosion of the public’s confidence in him doing his job,” Hueso said.

Hueso said he would be comfortable replacing Richards with another pro-hunting commissioner.

“If that happened people would see this is really about getting people who will respect the laws of California,” Hueso said.

Gov. Jerry Brown does not have the authority to remove Richards in midterm and a spokesman said he does not comment on pending legislative action. Richards was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008, replacing a commissioner who angered hunters by supporting a ban on lead bullets to protect condors that eat the remains of game.

Only the Legislature, by enacting a joint resolution passed by a simple majority of both houses, can remove Richards from the post, which pays $100 per meeting. The governor’s signature is not required.